And so far, at 2:25 Eastern Daylight Time, the following things have happened:

Milwaukee Bucks/Toronto Raptors trade

The Toronto Raptors sent second-year forward Charlie Villaneuva to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for point guard T.J. Ford. I think it should be a good trade for both teams, though both are obviously giving up quite a bit, too. Ford theoretically gives Toronto a solid hand at the point, while Villaneuva goes to Milwaukee to compliment Andrew Bogut in a promising front-court lineup. But then I admit that I haven't followed either team very well-- we're taking your calls right now, sports fans!

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs officially offered franchise player LeBron James the maximum contract extension of 5 years, $80 million. And yeaaah, that seems awfully low compared to some of the even more outrageous extensions negotiated under the old collective bargaining agreement. LeBron's obviously worth it, though, insomuch as anyone who plays a sport for a living is worth it... turning cynicism off now...

Dallas Mavericks

Though it apparently hasn't happened yet, Mavs owner Mark Cuban apparently has planned to offer Jason Terry a new contract the moment he's allowed to do so... and then try to get franchise players Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard signed to contract extensions. The Mavs have all the pieces in place to contend for the championship for many years to come; here's hoping they grow up sometime before next year's playoffs, though. The "wah, wah, wah, poor me!" crap turned me against them. At least they made it to the Finals, while my Pacers last made it in 2000.

Miami Heat

Guard James Posey, a key member of Miami's championship team, has decided to exercise his $6.4 million option to remain with Miami next season. No doubt the Heat and Posey will negotiate a longer contract later.

And speaking of contract options, the Heat picked up the $1.1 million option on guard Jason Kapono's contract, ensuring that the former Charlotte Bobcat will remain in Miami as they try to win two in a row.

The Cavs officially offered franchise player LeBron James the maximum contract extension of 5 years, $80 million. And yeaaah, that seems awfully low compared to some of the even more outrageous extensions negotiated under the old collective bargaining agreement. LeBron's obviously worth it, though, insomuch as anyone who plays a sport for a living is worth it... turning cynicism off now...

I get what you're saying, but if guys like Duncan, Kidd and Jermaine O'Neal are getting $16 mil, LeBron by all rights should make that as well.

Plus in the same vein the Heat inking Wade to his 5yr/75M extension is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

I'm actually not so sure about that. Bill Simmons explained the rationale for it better than I did, but it kind of goes something like this: Shaq's getting old, and the guys they have to surround Wade that aren't named Shaq ...well, aren't great. Certainly not as prominent members of a possible repeat championship team. Why would Wade necessarily sign a 5-year extension to a team that might very well bomb by his second season?

That being said, I do agree that he'll probably resign. I just don't think it's necessarily a foregone conclusion that he will.

Carmelo Anthony has agreed in principle to the maximum 5-year, $80 million extension that will keep him in a Nuggets uniform through the 2011-12 season. (Hard to believe we're approaching Back to the Future Part II, isn't it?)

Dallas Mavericks

Jason Terry, who averaged 17.1 points per game in the regular season and 18.9 PPG in the playoffs as the Mavericks won the Western Conference Championship, agreed to a six-year deal that'll end after 2011-12. He'll be only 34 when the thing ends, too... wow.

Good move by the Bucks. Ford was injury prone and they now have a young frontcourt that could develop together. Still probably at least another year away from the playoffs though.And, the Clippers finally open up Donald Sterling's wallet and give a free agent a 4 year contract. Of course, the free agent was Tim Thomas, who, except for a few weeks with Steve Nash, has been the poster child for wasted talent throughout his career. Welcome back Clippers.

Originally posted by redsoxnationGood move by the Bucks. Ford was injury prone and they now have a young frontcourt that could develop together. Still probably at least another year away from the playoffs though.

They *did* make the playoffs this past year. Even though they play in the East, you can't take that away from them.

Well, shit! SI.com is now reporting that the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets have agreed to terms on a five-year deal with forward Peja Stojakovic, whom the Pacers acquired in the Ron Artest trade.

Damn. Well, it's not like Peja was much help to us in the playoffs, but I'd been hoping if he got healthy that he'd form an exciting front court with Jermaine O'Neal.

I like Danny Granger a lot, don't get me wrong, but I think if this report is true, the Pacers should step up their pursuit of former Pacer, now unrestricted free agent Al Harrington.

Or maybe Danny's ready, who knows?

Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers agreed to a multi-year contract with former Clippers forward Vladimir Radmanovic. Apparently Radmanovic was called by the Lakers and several other teams the moment the clock turned 12:01 on the 1st.

Los Angeles Clippers

The story was broken earlier today by our very own sideline reporter redsoxnation, hee, and SI.com is now confirming that Tim Thomas will sign a four-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers (as seen above). Hopefully they didn't overpay for him, because he's not the franchise player that the Bucks and Knicks had hoped he would be.

Also, in a good move, and relatively cheaply, too, the Clippers will re-sign point guard Sam Cassell for two years, $13 million, as he serves as a mentor to Shaun Livingston, L.A.'s point guard of the future.

July 2nd Update:

Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors officially signed their top overall pick in the NBA Draft, Andrea Bargnani. He'll make $7.78 million in the first two years of his contract, and the Raptors will have options for years three and four.

Denver Nuggets

The day after getting married, (congratulations, by the way!), Nene agreed to return to the Denver Nuggets with a six-year, $60 million deal. The Nuggets can only hope that his promising career will continue where it left off after he blew out his knee three minutes into opening night last year. Either it'll be a big step towards building a championship contender in Denver, or it'll be the next Allan Houston deal.

New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets

The Hornets sure are, siiiigh, making a buzz in the free-agent market. Excuse me while I duck the rotten tomatoes headed my way. They have now come to terms with free-agent guard Bobby Jackson, who played for the Memphis Grizzlies last year, and prior to that was a Sixth Man of the Year award winner with the Sacramento Kings.

Obviously the big news of the day was that Ben Wallace, the cream of this year's free-agent crop, has agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal with the Chicago Bulls.

Wallace has won four of the last five Defensive Player of the Year awards, and was a cornerstone on Pistons teams that won the NBA Championship in 2004 and the Eastern Conference championship in 2005. He'll join a revitalized Bulls team loaded with young, exciting talent that has made the playoffs the last two years after six nightmarish post-Jordan seasons.

Miami Heat

It's been reported that the Heat are working on a contract extension for NBA Finals MVP (and for my money, the best player in basketball today), Dwayne Wade, who is eligible for a five-year, $80 million extension and I don't see why he wouldn't get it.

Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns will reportedly sign former Chicago Bull and Los Angeles Clipper Eric Piatkowski to a two-year contract for the veterans' minimum of $2.3 million. Nice pickup, I think. You can always use another sharpshooter.

Originally posted by TheCowI'm actually not so sure about that. Bill Simmons explained the rationale for it better than I did, but it kind of goes something like this: Shaq's getting old, and the guys they have to surround Wade that aren't named Shaq ...well, aren't great. Certainly not as prominent members of a possible repeat championship team. Why would Wade necessarily sign a 5-year extension to a team that might very well bomb by his second season?

That being said, I do agree that he'll probably resign. I just don't think it's necessarily a foregone conclusion that he will.

Yeah but you can make that argument about any team he might sign with. You never know what your team is going to be like at the end of a long deal. Besides, I think Wade alone will have that team in contention for several years, unless things change dramatically in the Eastern Conference. It probably just comes down to Wade's faith in the Heat managment to want to put a winning team out there.

Originally posted by ekedolphinThe Phoenix Suns will reportedly sign former Chicago Bull and Los Angeles Clipper Eric Piatkowski to a two-year contract for the veterans' minimum of $2.3 million. Nice pickup, I think. You can always use another sharpshooter.

Given recent history, I wouldn't be surprised in Piatkowski spends the next two years as a star in Phoenix.

It's a great fit for a guy like Pike in that all he has to do is spot up at the arc and wait for Nash or Barbosa to get the ball to him. They need shooters to execute their offense, and they got a guy who can a) play both guard spots and b) can be a spark off the bench.

Originally posted by ekedolphinAnd speaking of contract options, the Heat picked up the $1.1 million option on guard Jason Kapono's contract, ensuring that the former Charlotte Bobcat will remain in Miami as they try to win two in a row.

And former Cavalier, thank you very much! Funny, the other day I was just wondering where he ended up.

Speaking of teams that just can't commit to one venue, the Hornets will acquire (sports.espn.go.com) Tyson Chandler from the Bulls for P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith. Speculation also sez that the Bulls might try to move Smith (how he got in Byron Scott's doghouse, I don't know), seeing as he's stuck behind Nocioni, Gordon, and Deng, but they'd have to wait precisely 60 days from the trade being consummated.

The Los Angeles Lakers agreed to a multi-year contract with former Clippers forward Vladimir Radmanovic. Apparently Radmanovic was called by the Lakers and several other teams the moment the clock turned 12:01 on the 1st.

Radmanovic had a great showing during the Clippers/Suns series, coming on strong with a lot of 3-point shots. He's a good acquisition and should fit in just fine with the Lakers. A 3-point threat that no one (except maybe Phoenix) expects.

Los Angeles Clippers

The story was broken earlier today by our very own sideline reporter redsoxnation, hee, and SI.com is now confirming that Tim Thomas will sign a four-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers (as seen above). Hopefully they didn't overpay for him, because he's not the franchise player that the Bucks and Knicks had hoped he would be.

Also, in a good move, and relatively cheaply, too, the Clippers will re-sign point guard Sam Cassell for two years, $13 million, as he serves as a mentor to Shaun Livingston, L.A.'s point guard of the future.

I absolutely HATE the Tim Thomas move. The guy is a total misfit who gave headaches to Chicago and New York and only came on for Phoenix during the playoffs. And even then he wasn't completely effective, as he essentially became a non-factor in the series against the Clippers. Bad, bad move!

However, my biggest anxiety has been relieved. Sam Cassell has been re-signed, something I didn't expect considering the Clippers' history. They're actually serious about winning, folks. If they can make at least one more good free-agent signing, they could be one of the favorites to win it all next year.

Originally posted by It's FalseRadmanovic had a great showing during the Clippers/Suns series, coming on strong with a lot of 3-point shots. He's a good acquisition and should fit in just fine with the Lakers. A 3-point threat that no one (except maybe Phoenix) expects.

He also doesn't do ANYTHING besides shoot threes, which is frustrating because he SHOULD be a much better player. For a guy who is a stupendous athlete (probably my favorite Sonic to watch on the wing during a 3-on-1, because he can FLY for a guy his size), he is a crappy rebounder and an even crappier defender.

WHOA. Austin Croshere, a Pacer for the last nine years and the last remaining member of the 2000 Eastern Conference Champion team, will be traded to the Dallas Mavericks for shooting guard/point guard Marquis Daniels.

I'm somewhat surprised it took us this long to deal Austin, and I'm not 100% sure it was a good move at this juncture, seeing as how his contract was going to expire at the end of this year anyway and clear up some salary cap space. But hey... Daniels seems like a good player, and quite a steal with a 6-year, $38 million contract. More than that, he may finally be the answer we need at point guard-- I hope I hope.

Chicago Bulls/New Orleans Hornets trade

Jeez, both these teams have been busy this offseason. It's been reported that the Chicago Bulls will trade forward/center Tyson Chandler to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for veteran forward P.J. Brown and promising young forward J.R. Smith.

I guess the Bulls have faith in Tyrus Thomas' ability to start for them immediately, and they'll get an old hand and tough defensive player in Brown, and a young slasher in Smith in exchange. Just as importantly, they'll get two players who use acronyms for their names, and you can never have enough of those.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics exercised the options on newly-acquired guard Sebastian Telfair, and also on Al Jefferson, Delonte West and Gerald Green. They also signed undrafted free agent Allan Ray from Villanova.

Charlotte Bobcats

The Bobcats signed the #3 overall pick in the NBA Draft, Adam Morrison, to a rookie contract-- guaranteed for two years, with team options for years three and four.

Detroit Pistons

The day after losing Ben Wallace to the Chicago Bulls, the Detroit Pistons came to terms with free-agent center Nazr Mohammad, most recently of the San Antonio Spurs. Not a bad acquisition, but obviously Nazr ain't no Big Ben.

Watching him for most of his college career, I never would have thought Croshere would have lasted 10 days in the NBA, let alone almost 10 years.For Dallas, this trade isn't about this trade, it is about the trade they make around the trade deadline. The following is only an example. I am not saying the Celtics will fall apart and do this. I only say this because it would come close salary wise and would make sense under this scenario: Boston fails to trade for Iverson, they are 15-20 games under .500 around the All-Star Break and Pierce has let it be known he won't be coming back to Boston in '07-'08. At that point, Boston decides they are going to let him walk, get way under the cap(and under the cap for the first time since its creation), and then build around Gerald Green and Al Jefferson. Dallas either needs another post defender in the mold of Theo Ratliff, or decide they need yet another scorer in Wally Szczerbiak. Croshere's an expiring contract, package that with another mid level expiring contract and a pick, and Croshere gets flipped for a much better player because of the expiring contract. Daniels doesn't do that for them because he has multiple years on the deal, so a team can't get the contract off the books to either avoid the luxury tax or get under the cap for the next season. For the luxury tax example, see flipping Croshere and another contract to Denver for Kenyon Martin.